There are several different types of coating processes, such as dipping, dip forming, spraying and co-extrusion.
In the most basic coating process, a very fluid plastic paste is spread over a base material or substrate (textile, paper, non-woven fabric) and then passed through an oven to ensure that the paste forms a gel.

In the dipping process, the metallic shape is pre-heated before being dipped into a plastisol (liquid paste based on PVC and plasticiser). This process is most particularly suited to PVC paste resins (emulsion and micro-suspension process), but powder dry-blends (suspension process) can also be used for specific needs.

Extruding can produce soft or rigid items which can be compact or cellular in form. Items which require specific characteristics (e.g. aesthetic appearance, good weather resistance) are made by the co-extrusion process, which uses one (jacketing of metallic wires) or two extruders and a specially shaped die.